Nation & World News
Team has not found weapons stockpiles in Iraq
The CIA group reports that
they have found evidence
of weapons "activities,”
including nuclear research
By Warren P. Strobel
and Jim Kuhnhenn
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — The head of a
CIA team hunting for Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction told Congress on
Thursday that he had not found any
stockpiles of the chemical or biological
arms that President Bush cited as the
primary reason to invade Iraq in March.
David Kay, whose teams have been
scouring Iraq and interviewing cap
tured Iraqi officials for three months,
also reported that specialists found
no evidence that Iraq's nuclear
weapons program had progressed
beyond a rudimentary stage.
That program was cited by Bush,
Vice President Dick Cheney and oth
ers as perhaps the most fearsome
threat posed by former Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein.
Kay's report is likely to intensify
the debate over whether the admin
istration intentionally misled the
public on the threat posed by Iraq's
weapons programs.
But Kay, a former U.N. weapons
inspector, cautioned the I louse and
Senate intelligence committees that
his report was an interim one and that
it was still possible weapons would be
found. He said he found evidence
that Iraq continued weapons develop
ment in violation of U.N. strictures.
"We have not yet found stocks of
weapons, but we are not yet at the point
where we can say definitively either that
such weapons stocks do not exist or that
they existed before the war and our only
task is to find where they have gone,"
Kay said in an unclassified version of his
testimony released by the CIA.
Members of his Iraq Survey Group,
Kay said, have discovered weapons
"activities" and equipment that were
concealed from U.N. inspectors when
they returned to Iraq late last year.
Those include apparent biological
weapons research and Iraqi attempts
between 1999 and 2002 to import
technology for 900-mile range mis
siles from North Korea, he said.
Reaction from intelligence commit
tee members ranged from support for
Kay's work to frustration over the
meager findings to dismay that one of
the central justifications for war had
not been proved.
"rhis raises real questions about the
doctrine of pre-emption," said Sen. lay
Rockefeller, of West Virginia, the rank
ing Democrat on the Senate Intelli
gence Committee, "You just don't make
decisions like we do and put our na
tion's youth at risk based upon some
thing that appears not to have existed. *
The committee chairman, Sen. Pat
Roberts, R-Kan., declared himself "not
pleased with what 1 heard today."
"Everybody involved in this effort
... would have hoped by now there
would have been a breakthrough,
" he said.
But Rep. Porter Goss, chairman of
the House panel, said Kay's report
showed Bush's decision to remove Sad
dam was justified. "From the informa
tion uncovered to date, it is clear that
the threat Saddam presented to the re
gion and to the world was real, growing
and grave," said Goss, R-Fla.
Bush aides said Thursday that they
still expect to find proof that Saddam
possessed weapons of mass destruction.
"I have not seen anything that leads
me to believe that the intelligence that
I relied on is necessarily, in the aggre
gate, inaccurate," said Defense Secre
tary Donald Rumsfeld. "I believed it
then. I believe it now."
Kay said interviews with Iraqi scien
tists confirmed that the Iraqi leader
remained committed to acquiring
atomic arms, perhaps after U.N. sanc
tions were lifted.
But Kay, speaking to reporters after
his testimony, said evidence to date
indicated "a restart" of the nuclear
program — which was halted by the
1991 Persian Gulf War — was only "at
the very most rudimentary level."
"It clearly does not look like a mas
sive resurgent program," he said.
(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Knight Ridder
Newspapers correspondent Jonathan S.
Landay contributed to this report.
North Korea plans to boost supply of nuclear weapons
North Korea s ambitions
to increase its arsenal
could force the Bush team
to focus on that region more
By Tim Johnson
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
BEIJING — North Korea declared
Thursday that it has processed spent
nuclear-fuel rods in order to make nu
clear weapons, and a North Korean
diplomat reportedly said his country
would boost its nuclear arsenal but
wouldn't market weapons abroad.
The claims from the largely dosed
communist nation were impossible to
verify but are certain to add pressure on
the Bush administration to focus on the
instability that may unfold in East Asia
as a result of North Korea capital city
Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
"(North Korea) successfully fin
ished the reprocessing of some 8,000
spent fuel rods," a spokesman for
North Korea's foreign ministry said in a
statement carried by the official KCNA
news agency.
The spokesman, who wasn't identi
fied, said his nation was using plutoni
um from the fuel rods at a once
mothballed nuclear plant north
of Pyongyang "in the direction (of) in
creasing its nuclear deterrent force."
Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su
Hon, speaking to reporters at North
Korea's mission to the United Na
tions, said his country was deter
mined to fortify its nuclear arsenal, ac
cording to China's official Xinhua
News Service.
"Since the United States has threat
ened (North Korea) with nuclear
weapons to launch a pre-emptive nu
clear attack against (North Korea), we
have no choice but to be in possession
of the nuclear deterrence," Choe said.
Choe declined to say how many nu
clear weapons his nation has. The CIA
has said North Korea might have one or
two nuclear weapons. The plutonium
from the reprocessed rods could pro
duce five to six more nuclear weapons
within about six months.
"One thing we can tell you is that we
are in possession of nuclear deter
rence and we're continuing to
strengthen that deterrence," Choe
said, according to Xinhua.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said
in Washington that North Korea had
claimed twice before that it had fin
ished the reprocessing.
"We have no evidence to confirm
that," Powell said.
"I believe that this is a matter of seri
ous concern for the international com
munity," Powell added, "and I think
North Korea's neighbors should also be
delivering a message to (North Korean
leader) Kim Jong 11 that the solution to
the problem is for them to stop moving
in this direction, continue to participate
in the diplomacy that is under way."
Powell said U.S. officials were look
ing into how they might "provide the
kinds of security assurances that might
help to move the process along."
A U.S. official, who spoke on condi
tion of anonymity, said the latest North
Korean claim appeared to be posturing
in preparation for a new round of tails
on its nuclear weapons program.
The last talks — involving the Unit
ed States, North Korea, Russia, China,
South Korea and japan — took place in
late August. While no date has been
set, observers expect a new round of
talks before the end of the year.
Choe, who was in New York attend
ing the annual U N. General Assembly,
said his nation wasn't committed to
further talks.
"Certain mass media (are) circulat
ing rumors as though we have just
made promises to participate in the
next round of the six-party talks,"
Choe was quoted as saying. "Unfortu
nately, this is not true."
(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Jonathan
S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel
contributed to this story.
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How To Throw A Responsible Party
Information for Students Hosting Parties: The ASUO, Eugene Police Department, and University of Oregon Office of Student
Life have developed these ten steps to help you have a successful party in campus neighborhoods.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Invite your friends. Make sure you control the guest invitations so you don't find yourself with
300 people showing up, saying they have been invited by someone who was invited by
someone you invited. Don't put up fliers, posters, etc. about your party. A moderate-sized
party is one at which you can have fun. A party that grows out of control is one where you
will spend all your time dealing with problems instead of socializing and having a good time
yourself.
Keep the planned size of your party in line with the size and capacity of your facility,
including bathroom facilities. Remember that your party cannot use your neighbors' yards or
city streets.
Find ways to celebrate that do not involve alcohol. If you choose to serve alcohol, ensure that
you are only serving to people 21 years of age or older.
Determine who will be the party's designated non-drinking monitor; those persons can do a
lot to keep things under control and should be the ones to interact with the police if they get
called to your party (see 7, 9, and 10).
Remember that if you host a party that gets out of control, you may be legally liable for
criminal and civil action or restitution for police and other city services.
Remember that if you host a party, you are legally liable if persons under 21 drink alcohol or
if someone drinks until they are intoxicated.
Control access to your party. Have a door monitor with specific instructions about whom to
admit. Don't let random people into your house who are walking around looking for a party.
Notify your neighbors of your party plans. Let them know what you plan in terms of size,
hours, music, etc. Tell them they can contact you if they have problems created by your party.
There are several circumstances that will draw police attention to your party:
• loud noise.
• admitting people under 21 years old.
• letting people carry beverages outside from your party.
Itmo
10.
11.
Be cooperative with neighbors, police, or other concerned persons who come to you during
the party to discuss a problem. Being cooperative will keep the problem from escalating to a higher-level response (e.g., your arrest!).
Your neighbors may be more tolerant of your next party if you clean up promptly after your party. Clean up all debris your guests have carried outside and left in
your yard, in other people's yards, or in the street.